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Have you ever noticed that some people have funny ideas about the definition of prophecy? Some think that intuition about future events is prophecy. Recently we had an economic market crash and we are told that some people actually predicted it. They looked at trends in the market and drew some accurate conclusions. Other people think that prophecy is having a feeling that something is going to happen. If it happens to come true, then they are a prophet. Some think it is okay for a prophet to make mistakes as long as he or she gets some of the predictions correct. Nostradamus is one such example of a person who apparently, if in fact, he actually predicted anything would come true. It has been admitted that many things he predicted really have not come true. Therefore, is he really a prophet? Some people have weird ideas about what a prophet is.

Supposed Prophets of Our Time

Some have heard about the prophetic opinions of George Fielding Elliott. In 1938, he said a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a strategic impossibility. Obviously, he was wrong. Or, how about Darryl Zanuck. He was the head of Twentieth Century Fox. In 1946, he said that television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. He added that people would soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Or how about the Science Digest of August 1948 which said that a landing on the moon had so many serious problems that it might take science another 200 years to do so. Obviously, they weren’t right either. Or how about the person who placed a personal ad in a newspaper which predicted that the world would come to an end. It didn’t happen however. Later they said that they regretted any inconvenience they may have caused. I thought it was terrific they apologized. Whoever made that prophecy was obviously not a prophet. Or how about the person who last year predicted that Jesus would return on May 21st, 2011 and then he re-predicted Jesus’ return in October and both times the individual was wrong. He also added that the world would come to an end after Christ’s return. But the fact that we are still here proves he wasn’t right either of the two times.

We have weird ideas about who qualifies as prophets and what qualifies as prophecy. There is a Chinese proverb that summarizes the situation really well. It says,

It is difficult to prophesy, particularly with regard to the future.[1]

That is a terrific statement, “It is difficult to prophesy particularly with regard to the future.” That is the truth. Now you may guess. You may think. You may have intuition. You may look at trends and have various ideas about what may be coming, but if you are truly a prophet, you will have to be accurate more than once or twice in your life. You must be accurate every time.

Standard For God’s Prophet

God has a higher standard for a prophet than what our world is willing to accept. Listen to Deuteronomy 18:21-22.

You may say in your heart, “How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NASB)

God’s standard is really high. The point is, a prophet, if in fact he is a prophet, when he speaks it will come true. It will come true every time he prophesies. That is the standard for God’s prophet. Every time he speaks it is true. All we have to do to prove that someone is not God’s prophet is find one mistake. And if you make one mistake, you are not God’s prophet. Oswald Chambers makes the following comment with regards to God’s prophet.

A prophet is not a sanctified Gypsy telling fortunes, but one who speaks as he is moved by the Holy Spirit within.[2]

See, if he truly is God’s prophet, the Holy Spirit is speaking through him to the listeners or as he is writing the Holy Spirit is directing. What he says will come true, and it will come true 100% of the time.

The Bible’s 1,817 Prophecies

Consequently, the Bible’s 1,817 prophecies, that is 1,239 in the Old Testament and 587 in the New Testament are all true and accurate. Why? Because God the Holy Spirit was working through His prophets, the writers, as they spoke or wrote. What they wrote or spoke will come true. The accuracy of the Bible is illustrated by Dr. Charles Ryrie. He makes the following comment. He says,

The accuracy of the Bible can be tested and is proven by the fact that if you were to look at a bunch of the prophecies, 300 of them, it would require 200 billion earths, populated with four billion people, each to come up with one person who could achieve 100 accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence.[3]

Think 200 billion earths populated with four billion people would be required in order to find one person who would be accurate in 100 prophecies without any errors in sequence. Yet, when you come to the Bible, it records not 100 but over 300 prophecies related to Christ’s first coming and they were accurate sequence. That is incredible.

We are not even talking about all of the 1,517 other prophecies in the Bible. Therefore, if you are wondering if God has written the Bible, the answer is yes! He wrote the book, and yes, the Bible is accurate.

The first book in the Bible is the book of Genesis. Did you know that the book of Genesis has some prophecies in it? And then there are prophecies littered throughout the Bible all the way to the last book of the Bible which is Revelation. That is what we’re looking at in this study – the last book of the Bible. In fact, we are looking at Revelation 22:13-21. But before we go there, I want to return to the starting point of the book of Revelation which is Revelation 1:1.

Meaning of Apocalypse or Revelation of Christ

In this very first verse, we were told that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now stop and look at that phrase, “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” When most of us think about the revelation of Jesus Christ, we just think that it is telling us about Christ. It is revealing something about Christ and that’s true. But the Greek word for Revelation is our English word apocalypse. In fact, some of your Bibles might even say the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Apocalypse is the transliteration of the Greek into English. So, we could call it the Apocalypse of Christ. Some Bibles say the Revelation to John or we could call it the Apocalypse of Christ or just the Apocalypse, if you want to shorten it. But the word Apocalypse in the Greek literally means the uncovering or taking out of hiding.

So, the Book of Revelation is “an uncovering.” God has uncovered truth for us. If you look at verse 9 in the last chapter of Daniel, we are told that Daniel was told to conceal or to seal the revelation. He was told not to share it. You can think of it like he was told to cover it. He was not to write it or to not to reveal it. But Revelation is the uncovering. It is the revealing of what John was told.

 The Alpha and Omega

Our study is the last study in the Book of Revelation. This is our sixty-third study and our text for the morning is Revelation 22:13-21. Most of the book has been one series of visions or dreams after another and it’s been primarily communicated to the apostle John by a number of angels. But when we come to our text, verse 13, we find that an angel is no longer talking. In fact, it is Jesus Christ who is speaking. Therefore, let’s read verse 13.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Revelation 22:13 (NASB)

The word Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. We are told that He is the first and the last and then we are told He is the beginning and the end. Now, if you are like me I used to think that the first and the last was the beginning and the end. In fact, they are synonyms. That is the same thing. It turns out that they are not. The first and the last is different from the beginning and the end. The word first in the Greek is protos and the word for last is eschatos. Now that just sounds like fun maybe, but eschatos has the idea of the first in a series. Our English word last comes from eschatos which is the last in a series. So, think about this for second. The first is the first in a series and the last is the last in a series. Now think about a series of what? Well, the series of anything and everything that exists. Do you know what this tells us? God is the first before everything.

In John 1:1, we are told in the beginning was the Word. The Greek word for Word is in the imperfect. What God is saying is that before there was anything, the Word was already existing. If you wanted to move back in time further this Greek word tells us the Word was already existing. And if we go back farther and you think God might not have been there the Greek word says He was already existing. It doesn’t matter how far back a person goes, God has always been there. It doesn’t matter how far back we want to go, He was there. He is the first in the series and He is the last in the series. The idea of the last in the series is that everything else may disappear but not Him. That is the idea of the first and the last in the series. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning of the alphabet. He is the end of the alphabet. He is the first in the series and He is the last in the series. He will always be. He was before us, He was before this world, He was before this universe, He was before Adam and He was before whatever the evolutionists want to say was here.

I find evolutionists interesting. I was watching a very interesting video this week about the Sphinx and the Pyramids in Egypt. I found the video really fascinating. They believe aliens came from another planet and built the pyramids and we appeared. I thought that was really wild. It is interesting that in order to get life here, they postulate that aliens came from another place and built them. Well, I think God is an alien. He is an unbelievable alien. He is called God. That’s who He is. And if they are willing to accept an alien creating everything, why not just make it really simple and have an all-powerful being called God create everything. Make it simple. Oh, but I forgot, we can’t have God, but we can have aliens on another planet. Right? Well, my question is, “Where did they come from? Who created them? Who started their planet?” And if it was the big bang, where did all the little molecules and whatever it was that came together and exploded and created all the stuff, come from? At some point one has to figure out where did something come from? The Bible tells us that He, Jesus Christ, was the first and the last. It is a mystery and we will never understand it. Really amazing.

The Beginning and End

Then notice, He was the beginning and the end. The Greek word for “beginning” is arche in the Greek. It has the idea that he is the originating one. Think about that for a second. He is the originating one. He is the — if I can put it this way, He is the beginner. He is the one who begins everything. Then we are told He is the “end.” The Greek word is telos and it has the idea that He is the fulfillment. He brings completion. So, watch this, He is not only the first in the series and the last in the series but He is the one who begins things and that He is the one who ends things. He brings it to completion.

Verse 13 introduces a tremendous shift in the book of Revelation. No longer is an angel speaking. God is speaking to us. Now do you want to know who this God is? If so, look at verse 16. It says, “I, Jesus.” That is who is speaking at this point. Verses 13-21, and do not forget verse 16, tell us God is speaking.

In John 5:26, Jesus is talking. He is talking to a crowd and there are some Pharisees in the crowd. Jesus makes a startling statement to His listeners. They received His message but they didn’t like it. Therefore, verse 26 says,

For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself . . . John 5:26 (NASB)

What’s the message? The message is that God the Father had life in Himself. The idea is that He is self-sustaining. If you were self-sustaining that would mean you do not depend on anyone else. You do not depend on anything else. That is the first in the series and the last in the series. You are the first and the last. No matter how far back you want to go, God was always the first. And He is the last in the series. The idea is that He is self-sustaining. He has life in Himself. I do not have life in myself and you don’t either. You couldn’t continue your life if you wanted to. You can’t sustain your life if you wanted to. There’s going to come a day, unless Jesus comes first, that we are going to die and disappear from this earth. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much effort you give to it, you cannot continue to live by your own free will. That is not possible. But God does. God continues to exist. He is self-sustaining. Jesus says, “I am self-sustaining too!” Just like the Father, Jesus is self-sustaining. Jesus says, “I am the first and I am the last. I am the Creator and I will bring it to completion.” That is the message. Verse 13 is a powerful statement about who the author of Revelation is. The book started by saying it was the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Then at the very end of the book who is in focus again? Jesus Christ! And we are told that He is God. Therefore, God has been speaking to us. God the Father to Jesus, to John and then to us.

Seventh Beatitude in Revelation

In verse 14 we are introduced to the closing comments of the chapter.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14 (NASB)

Now the fact that this verse starts off with the word blessed is a clue that this is another beatitude. The book of Revelation has many different numbers. There are seven churches, seven spirits, seven and seven and seven is repeated throughout the book. Well, this is the seventh beatitude of seven beatitudes. This is the last beatitude and it’s the seventh one and we are told, “Blessed are those who wash their robes.” Now the word for wash here has the idea in the Greek language of washing and washing.” The verb is a present participle and that implies ongoing washing. Now, if you recall, when we were in Revelation 19:8 and 14, a white robe was a symbol of those of us who are believers. Those of us who are saints. Those of us who are going to spend eternity with God. That is those who are true Christians. True Christians are symbolized as having white robes on. White robes! What does it mean to be washing your robes? Well, you want to keep them white, that’s the idea. The idea of washing them is that you want to keep them white. And what does white stand for? It stands for holiness. It stands for purity. The song that we heard earlier titled, “Holy and Humble and Obedient,” that is the correct idea.

Holy and Humble and Obedient 

Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be

Bow down at Your feet
There is no pride
My sin and my shame I cannot hide
No silver or gold can satisfy
Only Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be

Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Bow down at Your feet
There is no pride
My sin and my shame I cannot hide
No silver or gold can satisfy
Only Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient
I want to be
Holy, humble, obedient

I want to be
Bow down at Your feet
There is no pride
My sin and my shame I cannot hide
No silver or gold can satisfy
Only Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Only Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

That is the picture of white robes. It is the idea that they are living a holy life. True Christians, true believers, true saints actively wash themselves in this life by confession of sins. They are seeking to be holy. There is a desire to be holy even as God says in 1 Peter 1:15-16,

You shall be holy, for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16 (NASB)

He wants us to be holy even as He is holy.

We have a hard time understanding what this means. I was looking through some Scriptures that remind me of what holiness is. The Holy Spirit led me to look up some verses related to fleeing sin. Try this for a second. 1 Corinthians 6:18 talks about fleeing immorality. That is sexual sin. Then 1 Corinthians 10:14 talks about fleeing idolatry and Colossians 3:5 defines idolatry as greed, evil desire, passion, impurity and immorality. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 talks about fleeing the love of money. I think we can broaden the love of money to the love of things, the things of this world. In 2 Timothy 2:22, we’re supposed to flee youthful lusts and all the things that come with youthful lust. We often think of sexual sin but it’s much broader than that. It is our pride. It is our ego. It is all the things that we want. This is especially strong when we are in our youth. And it just multiplies and gets worse if we don’t stop and think about it and correct it. Therefore, what we are supposed to do is not do those things., That is the negative side but on the positive way it is to the pursuit of holiness. That’s the positive way of saying it. But what happens if we sin in this life? 1 John 1:9 tells us that,

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NASB)

We are told in Revelation 22;14, “Blessed are those who are washing their robes.” They are pursuing holiness, they are the ones confessing their sins. Why?

. . . so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter by the gates of the city. Revelation 22:14 (NASB)

What city? That is the New Jerusalem. We are told that there are two benefits. First, blessings for the people who are washing their robes, that is, people who are Christians. This is one of the marks of a Christian. They are pursuing holiness. One of the marks of a Christian is that you are confessing your sin – that’s a mark of a Christian. Those things do not make you Christians, but those are true of you, if you are a Christian. What we are told is that blessed are you because you get to be able to eat of the tree of life. You have the right to the tree of life. In Genesis 3:21-24 we discover that God actually put some angels around the Tree of Life because if anyone ate of the Tree of Life they would live forever. The implication here in verse 14 is that if you are one of the ones who are washing your robes, you will live forever. You will live for eternity. And I like the last part of this verse. It tells us that we get to live in heaven and enter into the gates of the city. Do you remember how many gates there are to the city to the New Jerusalem? There are three on four sides. That is a total of 12. Do you remember what the gates are like? Each gate is one big pearl. That is the door of the gate.

I was thinking about these gates and then all of a sudden I remembered a joke about the pearly gates and Saint Peter.

So, What Do I Do to Get into Heaven?

There was a man who died and approached the pearly gates. Saint Peter told him heaven was getting crowded and so he had to test the people with a point system before they could get in. If he got one hundred points, he could enter heaven. So, the man told Peter that he gave to the poor and Peter marked him down for three points. The man thought again, then said that he tithed and Peter added one point. The man desperately searched his memory, finally said that he never cursed. And Peter added a half a point. By now the man was getting frustrated. And he said at this rate, he could only get in by the grace of God and Peter replied, come on in.

That makes the point. The only way you are going to get into heaven is not by your works but by the grace of God, by His mercy. The ones who are washing their robes, who are pursuing holiness, who are confessing their sins are the ones who have already been forgiven by the grace of God because they put their faith in Jesus Christ. They are looking to him as their Lord and their Savior.

Description of Non-Christians

Verse 15 tells us who is not getting into heaven and it is rather clear once we understand verse 14. Verse fifteen says,

Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. Revelation 22:15 (NASB)

I looked closely at the Greek words in order to get a better understanding of this verse. I was a little surprised because the Greek word that’s used for sorcerers is the word from which we get our modern word pharmacology or pharmaceutical drugs. The word for immoral can be translated as pornography. What we are told here is that these people who are those who are into drugs and pornography and they are murderers and idolaters. Then, I noticed that the last part of this verse refers to people who love and practice lying. Whoa! I wonder if anybody here practices lying. You are a deceiver. God says that if you practice lying, if you practice these things, you are not really a believer. That’s the message. You are kidding yourself if you think you are. One of the signs you are one of these persons is that you are not washing your robe, is that you are practicing these things. The idea that is that you are comfortable with these sins. You are not wanting to change. You are rationalizing why it is okay. This is a challenge to each and every one of us to think about our life.

Jesus Christ – God, Man and the Messiah

Verse 13 told us that God is speaking to us at this point. Then verses 14-15 tell us that we have a decision to make. This is a choice about your destiny. Now when we come to verse 16, we are told,

I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. Revelation 22:16 (NASB)

At first you might say, this sounds like a repeat. But it is not a repeat. Did you notice what Jesus says at the end of the verse? He says, “I am the root and the descendant of David.” What’s important about that? What He is talking about is that He was born through Mary. Mary was his mother and the Holy Spirit was — I can’t really say a father but in a sense like a father. It is talking about is His humanity. Verse 13 talks about his deity and verse 16 is talking about his humanity. Then we are told that He is the Bright Morning Star. The Jews in extra-biblical writings often referred to the Messiah as a star. Therefore, verse 16 is telling us that Christ is a man and the Messiah. Genesis 3:15 prophesied that there would be One who would come to save us from our sins. That was a reference to the Messiah. Do you know what the closing chapter of Revelation tells us? Christ is the Messiah. Genesis 3:15 predicts the Messiah is coming. The last chapter of Revelation says the Messiah is Jesus. He was born as a human. But yet He is God. He is the God-man. He is both God and man. He is both. This is really a fantastic conclusion to the book of Revelation because of all the things that we would want communicated in the closing verses is to be told who God is. God has reminded us that Jesus is both God and man and He is the Messiah.

Call to Drink of the Water of Life

Now look at verse 17. It says,

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Revelation 22:17 (NASB)

What is verse 17 all about? The first part is about the return of Christ because He says He is coming. This is also an invitation to those of us who are spiritually thirsty. We are called to come so that you may partake of the water of life and it is free. This is not like a bottle of water that you pay for. The water of life is free. God gives and it is free. That’s the grace of God. What is the gift of salvation? It is free. We are told,

For by grace you are saved by faith and that not of works it is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (NASB)

So, you will be able to partake of the water of life. It gives you eternal life and it is without cost. This is a challenge to come and have your sins forgiven.

Do Not Add or Take Away From Revelation

Then verses 18 and 19 wrap it up. There are actually two more verses but I think this is the primary wrap up of the chapter. And we are told,

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19 (NASB)

Now there are two things I want to talk about regarding these two verses. The first is that this is an echo of divine warnings. For example, in Deuteronomy 4:1-2 and 6 and in Deuteronomy 12:32 Moses warns the Israelites. Moses gives instruction to the Israelites. He tells them not to change what he has said which is later recorded in this book called Deuteronomy.

Next, there is a very interesting statement in Proverbs 30:5-6 that is very similar to verses 18 and 19 in Revelation 22. Proverbs 30:5-6 says,

Every word of God is tested;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Do not add to His words
Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.   Proverbs 30:5-6

What does God say here? God says don’t add to My words. That is in the Old Testament. God says don’t add to My words. Just don’t do that. In Isaiah 30:9-13 there is an illustration of how people can add or take away from God’s word. Verse 9-13 says,

For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the Lord;
Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right,
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,
Therefore, this iniquity will be to you
Like a breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant . . .”   Isaiah 30:9-13 (NASB)

And the prophet goes on. What were the people wanting? Do not prophesy to us what God is saying but prophesy to us things we want to hear. Pleasant words! Verse 10 says, “Prophesy to us pleasant words.” Prophecy what we would like to hear. Well, that is rejecting God’s word. That is adding to God’s word. They did not want to hear what God had to say. That is removing it. They wanted someone to add to God’s Word, to tell them something that would make them happy. I was thinking about that. We tend to do that on occasion, don’t we?

We hear what God has to say and we pick and choose what we’re going to obey. What is even worse is when a pastor picks and chooses what he’s going to teach. A lot of teachers and preachers are doing that these days. They teach what the people want to hear. Does that sound like Isaiah 30? Therefore, they do not teach certain doctrines. Some are not very popular today. Therefore, they are guilty of not teaching God’s word. I can be guilty by the way if I am teaching a passage of Scripture if I change the intent, the sense and the meaning of the passage of Scripture. If I am not careful I can add to God’s word. God doesn’t like that. In 2 Timothy 2:15 we were told to rightly divide the word of truth. In James 3:1-2, we are told not to be mini-teachers because we will incur a stricter judgment. God does not like people changing what He wants us to hear. God does not like us changing His word. Why? He said it and He doesn’t want us distorting what He said. He doesn’t want us redesigning and remaking. The last thing He wants is a spokesman messing it up and saying thus sayeth the Lord, when in fact the Lord has not said it. Like a prophet of old, when they spoke they were supposed to speak what the Lord said. It must be accurate. It is an important lesson for us as well.

Now you say well, what else do these two verses mean? Do they teach that the cannon is closed? That this, is the close of the Bible? And the answer is yes and yes and yes and yes. There is nothing more to be added. It is important to note one of the early church fathers who commented on this passage said that when John wrote there were a lot of heretics and false teachers who were providing other prophecies about the future. He adds that this was a direct conflict with many of the false teachers who lived during the time of the Apostle John. So, if you think about that for a second, clearly what is being said is do not listen to anybody else. Do not listen to the heretics. Do not listen to the false teachers. Do not add. Do not take away! This is God’s truth. This is God’s prophecy about the future. Now if you think about the context in which this was written, how could we accept anybody today who would give us supposed prophesies and say they should be added to the Bible? It would just be inconsistent to think that anything else beyond the book of Revelation should be added to the Bible. And the answer is we shouldn’t do that.

I Am Coming Quickly!

Verses 20 and 21 wrap up the book. He says,

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21 (NASB)

Well, Revelation has been a great, great journey as we have seen what the future looks like. I trust this morning that you understand what God has done in the closing part of this chapter. There are three basic points that God has made. First, we have given the identity of Jesus. He is God. He is man and He is our Messiah. The second message is that we are urged to make sure that we are Christian, that we are a believer and have a choice. You can either choose to go to heaven or you can choose to go to the lake of fire. We oftentimes refer to that as hell. And the third part of this message is that if we are not to add to what He has said. That is God’s message. So how do we respond this morning? It is rather very simple today! Thank God. Thank God for His Word because it is faithful and it is true and pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

References:

1. Michael Green. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching. Baker Book House. 1991. p. 294.
2. David McCasland. The Quotable Oswald Chambers. Discovery House Publishers. 2008. p. 215.
3. Charles Ryrie. Today in the Word, MBI, December, 1989, p. 7.
4. James Pint. Author of the song, “Holy, Humble and Obedient.”

On Thursday, Nisan 14, AD 33, in the Jewish calendar, Jesus met His disciples in the Upper Room. It was the night in which Jesus was betrayed before His crucifixion, which occurred on the next day, Friday. His disciples had a Passover meal that Thursday evening. We are told the disciples began to argue about who was the greatest in the kingdom of God. What did Jesus do? Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of humility. Even though the message had been spoken and even though the message had been modeled for them by the example of Jesus washing their feet, the disciples either didn’t understand or they did not care. They continued to pursue the question of who was the greatest. Humility was missing.

My Father’s House

We are told in the gospels that after Judas left the Upper Room, communion was instituted as a practice for Christians. The conversation that followed was interesting because it occupies much of the gospel of John. At one point, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to leave them. Then Peter responded by asking where was He going? Jesus told him. Please turn to John 14:1. In verse 1 Jesus responds to Peter’s question. In verse one Jesus said,

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3 (NASB)

In verse 2 Jesus says, if I go away then I am going to come back to you. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places.” The Greek word that is translated as dwelling place is mone. It means “home or a place to dwell.” The word probably is better translated as a “modern day apartment” or “town house with a yard with it.” That’s probably a better way of thinking about it. The word means more than just a dwelling place. It has the idea of a place of your own and sometimes it’s translated as home.

Jesus promised His disciples that in the Father’s house there are many dwelling places. Some Bibles say, “Mansions.” A mansion is a very large building. Now think about it for a second. Jesus was describing a huge place because not only will the disciples be there but all those who believe in Christ and since Adam and Eve. Jesus was describing a big place. I guess the question is, “Would you like to see the Father’s house?” Would you like to see where you are going to live for eternity? Our study is Revelation 21:9-22:5.

Our Future Home

Therefore, please turn to Revelation 21:9. Before we go to verse 9, let me just remind you that in our last three studies we have been given an overview. In the overview, we discovered that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There will be a new Jerusalem and the new Jerusalem will be our new home. This study describes the details of our new home. We will discover how our new home will be constructed and its dimensions.

In Revelation 21:9 we are told,

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:9 (NASB)

The statement “one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me saying, ‘Come here’” occurs one more time and only one more time in the book of Revelation. If we look at Revelation 17:1 we discover this phrase occurs with a little modification. In Revelation 17:1 we read,

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters . . .” Revelation 17:1 (NASB)

And the verse continues. That’s very close to chapter 21, verse 9. In both verses, there is an angel who has one of the seven bowls, one of the seven last plagues, and he says, “Come here and I will show you.”

In chapter 17 we were told there was a great harlot and Babylon the great is that mother of harlots. In verse one we are told that she sits on “many waters.” If you were to look at verse fifteen you find that the phrase “many waters” refers to people. Now watch this, this woman, the mother of harlots, represents the world system. She represents the people of the world. This woman is not godly. She is a wicked woman and represents the unbelievers, the Christ rejecting people of the world and the people who will end up going in the lake of fire. In Revelation 21:9 we are introduced to a different kind of a woman. The verse says,

. . . Come here and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. Revelation 21:9 (NASB)

This is a woman or bride of a completely different kind. The bride represents the saints from the Old Testament and New Testament times. The Old Testament believers and New Testament believers are called “the bride”.

If you recall when we were in Revelation 19:7 the verse says,

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7 (NASB)

In verse 9 we are told,

“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” Revelation 19:9 (NASB)

The Jewish custom in Jesus’ time was that the marriage supper followed the wedding ceremony (v. 8) and in keeping with the Jewish custom the honeymoon followed next. In this passage the honeymoon corresponds to the millennial kingdom. So, when we read Revelation 21:9, the wedding ceremony has been completed already. The symbolism is very similar to that in Ephesians 5:22-33 of Christ and the church. There the husband and wife relationship are compared to Christ and the church. So, the church is like a wife and here in Revelation 21:9 the bride is a wife. These are believers in Christ. They are joint-heirs as we saw in our last study. This is really terrific.

Next, Revelation 21:9 introduces us to the wife. He says, “Come here, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” From verse 10 through the rest of our study the outline is, verses 10-14 provide a general description of the city. It has more detail than we were given in the earlier part of this chapter. Then from verses 15-17 we are given the dimensions of the city. Verses 18-21 give us the construction material. From verse 22 to Revelation 21:2 our life on the new earth is described. Then Revelation 21:3-5 describes our relationships in heaven. That is the outline.

Let’s start off with the general description which is verse 10-14. Verse 10 says,

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . . Revelation 21:10

The first thing I want us to notice is that the apostle John is taken to a high mountain and he is in the Spirit. Think about this. This is the new earth and a new heaven and he is on a high mountain on the new earth. What does that tell you about the new earth? It has mountains.

We already saw in verse one of this chapter that there will not be a sea. There is no sea or ocean, but there will be mountains all around. That means there is a lot of space on this planet — on the new earth. John was taken to a high mountain and he saw Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God. Now if you are thinking about what the angel just said in verse 9 you might be a little confused because the angel said,

I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb . . . Revelation 21:10 (NASB)

Then the next thing we read in verse 10 is that there is a city coming down out of Heaven. Notice that the bride is the saints of all of the ages who put their faith in Christ. You might say, “Well, how is it that this city is all of the saints?” Well, what we are supposed to understand is that the saints are inside. Therefore, guess where your future home is? It’s in the city. That’s where your home is. That’s the Father’s mansion. Remember that Jesus said in John 14, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places”? Well, the Father’s house is the new Jerusalem. That’s where the Father will be living and we are going to be there. So, the city will not only be the place where we will be living but it also represents the saints of all ages of all time. Verse 11,

. . . having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear. Revelation 21:11 (NASB)

The City of Jerusalem

I was thinking about the glory of God. The city has the glory of God. Anytime you think about a jewel or a city, think about light that shines and reflects off of it. We have lights this morning in the ceiling and it enables us to read. What is happening is that the light rays reflect off your page and you are able to see what is on the page. You are able to see things. You are able to read. You are able to see one other. You are able to see your clothes. You are able to see your hands. You are able to see because of the fact that it is reflected light. The Greek word for brilliance has the idea that the light is radiating from the city outward. It is not reflected light, so that tells us that God is inside because the light is coming from inside the city outward.

So, when the angel says, “Having the glory of God is the glory of God is shining through the walls,” think about it this way. It’s “like a very costly stone, a stone of crystal clear jasper.” The closest thing I can think of for crystal clear is a diamond. Just think about that. The city is like a jewel of crystal clear jasper. The brilliance is like a very costly stone as a stone of crystal clear jasper. That’s the brilliance of the new Jerusalem, our new home. Donald Barnhouse writing about the phrase, “the glory of God” says,

The light from the fires of judgment does not light the Holy city. Rather it is the glory of God and of the lamb. God had given to the world glimpses of His light to his ancient people Israel his glorious light shown in the Temple through the incarnation Jesus became the light of the world and in the Millennial Kingdom through God’s anointed Messiah the light shown in royal brilliance. But now at last, in the heavenly city the prophesy of Isaiah comes to its complete fulfillment. Arise, shine, for your light has come. The glory of the Lord is shown upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and shows darkness to people but the Lord shall rise upon you and His glory shall be seen upon you and the Gentiles shall come to your light and the Kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3[1]

What’s the point? The point is that this is the glory of God. It’s just shining and glowing through the city.

Description of The Wall

Now verse 12 gives us a description of the wall around this city. It says,

It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Revelation 21:12 (NASB)

What does that tell us? The city that is gleaming with the glory of God has a high wall and it has twelve gates. In fact, if you recall, in ancient days the reason cities had walls and gates was for protection. It was to keep the bad guys out. And so, they would close the gates at night to protect the people who are living inside. In verse twelve we are told there will be twelve angels beside each gate. That is the general description of the wall.

The wall will have gates and there will be twelve angels guarding each gate. Then we are told that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel will be on the gates. Now think about the twelve tribes for a minute. There are those who teach replacement theology. They believe that the church has replaced Israel. Now if that is really true, why are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel on the gates? The answer is that God is not through with Israel. God has a covenant relationship with them. They are going to be in a millennial kingdom. They will have a future, and even in the new — watch this — even in the new heaven and the new earth, in the new Jerusalem, God still has a special place for the nation of Israel.

Their names will be on the gates. The entrance into the city will be a reminder of God’s love and devotion and commitment to the nation of Israel. You know what that tells me? God’s faithful. God keeps his word. He is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful. Israel was unfaithful but God was still faithful to them. Verse 13 says,

There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. Revelation 21:13 (NASB)

What does that mean? That means there are three gates on each side of the four walls. We’re going to find out in a little while that the city is a square, and there are three gates on each of the four sides of the wall.

Verse 14 states,

And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Revelation 21:14 (NASB)

Now we are told that the twelve names of the twelve apostles are on the foundation stones. The foundation stones are supporting the wall. Now we have the nation of Israel and the apostles. We have the church and Israel together. That’s a stunning reality for those folks who believe that the church has replaced Israel. Why do we see both the church and Israel in the new heaven? It is really interesting to see that.

Dimensions of The City

Then we come to verse 15. Here we are given the dimensions of city. So, from verses 10 to verse 14, we are given the general description of the city. We are told that there is a city and God is living in it by the implication that brilliance is radiating from the city. Then we are told that there is a wall around it. The wall has gates with angels beside them. Some names are written on the gates and there are names written on the foundation stones of the wall.

Then in verses 15 to 16, we are given the dimensions. First of the city and then of the wall. Verse 15 tells us how the measuring is done.

The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. Revelation 21:15-16 (NASB)

We are told that the width and the height and the length are all equal. That tells us the city is a cube. The base is a square. The New American Standard Bible states that the length of one of the sides is 1500 miles. But that is not correct. The actual Greek text says 1200 stadia.

Henry Morris states that there are 607 feet to a stadia, or 0.115 miles to a stadia. That translates to 1380 miles on one side. Some Bibles say 1500 miles but that is wrong. Now that is a huge city. Think about it. Almost 1400 miles on one side, 1400 miles on another side and then 1400 miles straight up. That is a big cube. If we placed that city on our world today, it would extend from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the east coast of the United States of America to the state of Colorado. That’s a huge city. But that is just the ground floor. It is bigger than New York. Or if we were to draw a diagonal from one corner to the city to the opposite corner the city would extend from England to Greece. Again, that would be the base.[2]

It is estimated that about 100 billion people have lived on planet earth the beginning of creation. And let’s assume that 20% of those people became Christians. If we assume the numbers are true and we tried to put all those people into this cube, then we could give every person 9/10 of a square mile with a ceiling height of 1,000 feet to their living space.

And we don’t know how God designed the inside of the city. We do not know if there are elevators. We do not know if we will be like angels so that we can just go up and down from our place. We have no idea how this thing is designed on the inside. The bottom line is that it is a huge place. We will have our own mansion within the mansion-city. There will be a lot of space in this city using reasonable estimates.

Dimensions of The Wall

Verse 17 is the measurement of the wall.

And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. Revelation 21:17 (NASB)

The last part of this verse is difficult to understand. Most commentators struggle. We will not explore the alternate views about the meaning of the passage. What is clear is that the first part of the verse tells us the wall is seventy-two yards. We’re not told if it is seventy-two yards high or seventy-two yards wide. Most likely it is seventy-two yards wide since in the Old Testament the dimensions of the walls of a city are described in terms of its width. In Ezekiel 40:5 and Ezekiel 42:20 the dimensions of the wall are given in terms of width. The length of the city determines the length of the wall. If this is wrong and the dimension is height, then we are not going to care when we get to heaven anyway, right? Now that will be a huge wall. That will be a wide wall. One of the reasons it’s kind of important is that the city of Babylon had a monstrous wall. That was the talk of the ancients.

Construction Materials – Foundation Stones

When we come to verse 18, we are given the construction materials.

The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. Revelation 21:18 (NASB)

The description of the New Jerusalem is laid out as an engineer would do. First, we were given the general description. Then we were given its dimensions. Now the building materials are described. In verse 18 we are told that the wall was made of jasper. Think about that. This wall surrounds the city and it is made of jasper. Jasper is like crystal clear diamond. Just like a diamond. And the city was pure gold, like clear glass. In ancient days glass wasn’t clear like it is today. We have glass manufacturing down to a perfected science today but not in the ancient days. They could make glass but it wasn’t very clear. It might be a little milky or a little bit foggy. I was at a mine some years ago and saw some glass that was manufactured in an older era. It was kind of fuzzy or milky. Well, the glass that was manufactured in ancient days was not clear. But what is being described here is crystal clear glass. Clear! Think about this – transparent gold. Whoever heard of that? That does not exist in our world but it will exist in the new city you are going to be living in for eternity. Think about it.

Verse 19 now introduces us to the foundation stones of the city.

The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald, the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysotile; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. Revelation 21:19-20 (NASB)

We are told that the foundation stones of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper, and the second was sapphire, and John continues describing them through verse 20. The colors of the stones are like a rainbow. Jasper, as we have already discovered is crystal clear like a diamond. Sapphire is blue. Chalcedony is green. Emerald is green. Sardonyx is red. Sardius is red. Chrysotile is yellow. Beryl, topaz, and chrysprase are green, and jacinth and amethyst are blue stones. There are a lot of different colors in the foundation stones of this city. Now watch this, God is into color. He likes rare materials. These stones are not small stones. These are monstrous stones supporting the foundation walls. There are huge stones. Think about the cost of buying one today.

Construction Materials – Gates

In verse 21 we read,

And the twelve agates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Revelation 21:21 (NASB)

Now, let’s talk about the construction of the city gates. The city gates are twelve pearls. Therefore, there are twelve gates, twelve pearls, and a single pearl. Now let’s think about the single pearl and think about the width of the gates. They are going to be huge, huge pearls. Think about the cost to of the pearls. Now, you might say, “Well, is the single pearl and a black pearl or is it a white pearl? Is it a gray pearl?” We do not know. The single pearl may be a white pearl to correspond to the purity of the saints, but we do not know. I am guessing. But nevertheless, it is a single pearl.

We are also told that the streets of the city will be pure gold. The Greek word for street has the idea of a wide street. Remember Jesus’ parable about the narrow way and the wide way in Matthew 7:13-14? The word for street here in Revelation 21:21 has the idea of a wide street. It is like a freeway. This is an enormous street, and they are all transparent like glass. In addition, we are told they are made of transparent gold. Just think about this city. It is an unbelievable city. It is an unbelievable place in which we are going to live. Everywhere we will walk will be an absolutely amazing experience. Everything we will see will be amazing.

In the next series of verses from Revelation 21:22 to chapter 22, verse 2 we discover more information about what life will be like in the new heaven and new earth. So, let’s see what life will be like in eternity. Verse 22 tells us,

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Revelation 21:22 (NASB)

I found this verse to be interesting because in the Old Testament the Israelites built a tabernacle. God had directed them to build the temple. We are told that God came and His Shekhinah glory illuminated the tabernacle. Then the Shekhinah glory moved to Solomon’s temple after it was built. Later when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem, the Shekhinah glory left. Ezekiel 11:22-23 states that the Shekhinah glory left the temple, moved east to the Mount of Olives and then departed. Later another temple was built, Zerubbabel’s temple, after the Israelites started returning to Jerusalem. Before and during the time of Christ another temple was built, called Herod’s Temple. We have already discovered in our study of Revelation that there will be another temple in the millennial kingdom. The message is — God likes temples. But when the new heaven and the new earth appears, what will we discover in our new, future eternal life? We will discover that there will not be a temple made of wood, marble or some other material. There will not be a structural temple. There will not be a physical temple with doors, windows, wood and gold. There will not be a building called the temple because the temple is going to be God the Almighty and the Lamb. God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple.

The next verse tells us that the Shekhinah glory of God will be in the temple.

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:23 (NASB)

That is, there will not be any need for light bulbs. There will not be a need for streetlights, flashlights, or any kind of lights because God’s going to be all the light that we will need. Talk about energy conservation, there is no need for it. God will be the light, and His Shekhinah glory will illuminate everything. He’ll provide all the light that you need.

Verse 24 says,

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it . . . Revelation 21:24-26 (NASB)

In these three verses, we are told that the nations will walk into the city. What does that imply? We already know that there is no sea. We already know that there will be mountains. There will be a city, and we are going to be able to walk into it. That implies that we will also be able to walk out of it. We will be able to go different places. I suspect there will be trees for us to see. There will be trees inside the city and outside. I expect that there will be a variety of vegetation (Revelation 22:2). We are going to see many different and wonderful things. We think the Grand Canyon is great. But wait! You haven’t seen anything yet! We are only guessing. We are only dreaming about the good things. Wait until you get to the new heaven. Wait until you get to the eternal heaven and see what is there.

In verse 25 we are told, “It’s gates will never be closed.” The Greek word for never is a double negative. It is ou me. The double negative implies an emphasis. It means that the gates will never be closed. We will always have access to our God.

Verse 26 says, “And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.” The word nations is interesting. What does that mean?” The answer is revealed in verse 27. The verse helps us understand what the word nations means because we are told,

. . . and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:27 (NASB)

So, what are the nations? They are believers! All the nations are believers. It is wonderful to realize that God is going to include many different kinds of peoples. I couldn’t help but think about Galatians 3:28 which tells us that there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor slave nor — and it goes on. God is not partial to one race or nation when it comes to salvation. As far as God is concerned, if you believed in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter what nation, what race, whether you are male or female, every type of person will all have a place in heaven. I also found it interesting that we are told in verse 27, “And I found nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination or lying.” It is fascinating that John says that those who practice lying and abomination will not be able to get into heaven. We will love to live in heaven where no one lies and commits sin. This should be a wake up call for people who think they are Christian and lie and practice sin.

Next we are told in Revelation 22:1-2,

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2 (NASB)

In verse 1 we are told that John saw the throne of God, and from the throne of God a river flowed. The water that is flowing is called the water of life, and it is clear as crystal. And where does the river flow? It flows right down the middle of a street. The Greek word for street is once again a wide street. But we do not know how wide it will be. It could be extremely wide, or it could be narrow. The water of life will be there and what does that imply? It implies that we will be able to eat and drink in our future heaven. In fact, we are told that the tree of life will bear twelve kinds of fruit. Maybe a different type of fruit each month. Then we are told the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Now maybe you are wondering, will there be food in the new heaven? If so, the answer is that there will be food. Why would God provide twelve kinds of fruit? This means God believes in variety. He has designed something for us to drink, something to eat, places to walk in and places to travel outside the city. There will be mountains and there will not be a sea. What an interesting place heaven is going to be.

Probably the most difficult part of verse 2 is the last part of this verse because we are told, “And the leaves of the tree were for the.” the New American Standard says, “. . . the healing of the nations.” What does it mean the healing of the nations? The Greek word for “healing” is better translated as “life-giving.” So, it has the same idea as the water of life and the tree of life. They are all life-giving because we will be living where? We will be living in eternity, and so it is consistent. The leaves are for life sustenance or continuance of life.

Verses 3 and 4 are about personal relationships in heaven. Verse 3 tells us that God will be in the new heaven and new earth,

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him . . . Revelation 22:3 (NASB)

Therefore, if you weren’t sure where the throne of God and the Lamb will be, we are told explicitly in this verse. In the next verse we are told that we will see God’s face in the new heaven.

. . . they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4 (NASB)

Now this will be wonderful. Think about it. God will be in heaven, and we will be there. We will serve Him. And we will get a chance to see something that the saints of the ages have dreamed about and longed for. They wanted to see God’s face.

I have a question for you. Are you looking forward to seeing God’s face? I am! And we are told here we are going to be able to see His face. And then we are told His name will be on our foreheads. That’s a promise from God. That implies ownership. God is going to own us. He wants to own us! I’m going to welcome that. This implies a relationship between God and Christians.

Verse 5 says,

And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:5 (NASB)

This verse describes a relationship that we will have with God. Heaven will be an unbelievable place made with unbelievable materials. We will have unbelievable experiences, and we will be eating, drinking, walking, talking, seeing one another and seeing God face to face. It will be a glorious time. I am looking forward to getting out of this place called earth and going there. This world is not my home and I am just a-passing through.

So how shall we respond this morning? This is very simple! Our response should be one of praise and thanks to our God for our new, future home. Revelation has given us a promise, and He keeps His promise. Let us pray!

References

1. Donald G. Barnhouse. Revelation. Ministry Resource Library. 1971. p. 404.
2. Henry Morris. The Revelation Record. Tyndale house. 1983, p. 450-451.